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Affordable laptop recommendations: budget £350-£450

Puddy_Tat said:
mum-tat is contemplating a lap-top as a second device (she has a full PC, but tends to use something else when she is downstairs, and going up / down stairs a few times a day is getting more difficult) - it's going to be mainly internetting and e-mails, nothing too drastic.

she has seen a couple of things that argos do for about 200 quid - i've looked at them, and they appear to be 'cloudbooks' with this s-mode windoze 10.

my initial reaction to this is :hmm: and i can't help thinking that for similar money, a refurbished proper laptop would be better (i've got a refurbished thinkpad for when i'm away from home), and we could keep the software pretty much matching between the two.

any thoughts from the panel?
Click to expand...

Avoid. They are awful. I'm not the biggest fan of chromebooks (owned one for a few years) but seems perfect here.
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
Avoid. They are awful. I'm not the biggest fan of chromebooks (owned one for a few years) but seems perfect here.
Click to expand...

sorry, which is awful? cloudbook, chromebook, or refurbished laptop?

i'm on my 3rd refurbished laptop in probably 15 years or more and never really had difficulty with them other than one of them the battery got knackered but it still worked fine on the mains, which will be what mum-tat does.

(actually, second one was just second paw not refurbished and was given to me - it still works but runs on vista so is obsolete. there's one obscure thing i keep it for, as the software in question can't be loaded to a 64 bit computer)

i'd prefer to have something that's on windows 10 so that i have a reasonable idea what to do if something goes wrong, rather than it all being completely different to anything i'm used to like the tablet thing...
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
Avoid. They are awful. I'm not the biggest fan of chromebooks (owned one for a few years) but seems perfect here.
Click to expand...
Seconded. Underpowered crap cloudbooks.

Lil'Angel had an early version of one called an HP stream. Utter shit from day one. Best avoided.

I bought her a £200 refurb ThinkPad months later. 100x better
 
Puddy_Tat said:
sorry, which is awful? cloudbook, chromebook, or refurbished laptop?

i'm on my 3rd refurbished laptop in probably 15 years or more and never really had difficulty with them other than one of them the battery got knackered but it still worked fine on the mains, which will be what mum-tat does.

(actually, second one was just second paw not refurbished and was given to me - it still works but runs on vista so is obsolete. there's one obscure thing i keep it for, as the software in question can't be loaded to a 64 bit computer)

i'd prefer to have something that's on windows 10 so that i have a reasonable idea what to do if something goes wrong, rather than it all being completely different to anything i'm used to like the tablet thing...
Click to expand...


Sorry I meant cloudbooks/underpowered windows laptops are awful. One joy of Chromebooks is that there is nothing to go wrong. My Dad who was terrible with computers coped great with his.

You can get Win10 in 32bit if you could be bothered.
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
Sorry I meant cloudbooks/underpowered windows laptops are awful.
Click to expand...

thanks - that's what i thought you meant. will try and suggest the refurbished laptop option

UnderAnOpenSky said:
One joy of Chromebooks is that there is nothing to go wrong.
Click to expand...

hmm - that might be seen as a challenge :p

UnderAnOpenSky said:
You can get Win10 in 32bit if you could be bothered.
Click to expand...

thanks - realise there are ways round it, at the moment, the simplest is to keep this vista thing going for that one purpose and keep it in a dark corner the rest of the time. doing it better with newer software would be a better answer but there's a committee involved in the decision...
 
oi oi - laptop for a new student (A Levels) needed

The college website states:
IT & Laptop Advice
The College has a large number of desktop and laptop computers for you to use on campus. For some courses, it may be beneficial to also have your own laptop. Below is some advice on what to look for when purchasing a laptop.

What laptop to choose from?

Our recommendation is to buy a laptop with the following specifications:

Intel i3/i5/i7 or AMD Ryzen 3/5/7 CPU
4/8GB of RAM 120GB SSD 13”/15” screen
We do not make official recommendations on the specific make of laptops. When choosing your laptop processing power is less important than weight (light) and battery life (long). The more RAM you have the better. An SSD hard drive can speed up some processes but is not essential. A touch screen can be useful for annotating notes but is also not essential.

An iPad or tablet could also be used, but we would recommend a keyboard attachment to aid in typing.
I'm looking at this at the moment on eBay: Acer 14" Laptop 8 GB RAM 512GB Intel® Core™ i5 Windows 11 - Silver 4710886793311 | eBay

Much as I despise AO (due to a number of fuck ups they have made with household appliances we've had from them) the price is right thanks to there already being 24%off and now a further 20% off thanks to ebay, bringing it down to £440 ish from £729.

Any glaring problems with this laptop? Any other/better suggestions?

My main concerns for the said student are weight and battery life. (based on my own lugging around of laptops).


​

 
It looks good for a machine in its price range. 14" makes a big difference in terms of how portable a machine is.

Still frustrates me that 8gb is the standard until you spend a lot more. My work laptop often craps out mid afternoon when there is a lot going on, but I'm probably pushing it a bit harder then she will.
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
It looks good for a machine in its price range. 14" makes a big difference in terms of how portable a machine is.

Still frustrates me that 8gb is the standard until you spend a lot more. My work laptop often craps out mid afternoon when there is a lot going on, but I'm probably pushing it a bit harder then she will.
Click to expand...

RE:14" - too big or too small - or are you on about weight?

This is 1.2kg according to the specs on eBay - so a little lighter than a MacBook Air


8gb will be fine for her use/needs - but I know what you mean
 
Throbbing Angel said:
RE:14" - too big or too small - or are you on about weight?

This is 1.2kg according to the specs on eBay - so a little lighter than a MacBook Air


8gb will be fine for her use/needs - but I know what you mean
Click to expand...

No screen size. 14" seems optimal for a portable machine. Any smaller and they are a pain to work on, but unless it's super expensive, most 15" ones are quite bulky.
 
14" is "just right" to me.
Think it's on the pricey side for 8GB and last generation CPU, but it is quite light. Something that I don't particularly value, but you might.
 
Chz said:
14" is "just right" to me.
Think it's on the pricey side for 8GB and last generation CPU, but it is quite light. Something that I don't particularly value, but you might.
Click to expand...

Still a decent chip. We're still ordering them at work for clients. Obviously the Dell ones are a fair bit more expensive.
 
What is OLED and what is CPU

how light is light ?

What is the next GB after 8 and what price range would it take it into?

(looking for new laptop)
 
Miss-Shelf said:
What is OLED and what is CPU

how light is light ?

What is the next GB after 8 and what price range would it take it into?

(looking for new laptop)
Click to expand...

OLED stands for Organic LED and is the technology found on posh TVs.

CPU is the part of the computer that does most of the work It's one of the parts that governs how fast it is.

16Gb would be next. Typically they are much more expensive, although you may find cheaper machines with 16gb. They are often compromised in other ways.

What's your budget and what do you want to use it for?
 
Miss-Shelf said:
What is OLED and what is CPU

how light is light ?

What is the next GB after 8 and what price range would it take it into?

(looking for new laptop)
Click to expand...
OLED is a more vivid screen, with zero backlight bleed. Usually there's a tradeoff of a lower maximum brightness, but vs other laptops in this price range this screen actually has better peak brightness.

CPU is 2 cores/4 threads, but a proper Core i3. I'd call it a minimum, but perfectly acceptable for most usage. Despite the core count, faster than a 4 core Celeron.

Seems to be 1.8kg, so light-ish for a 15" but not ultralight.

From what I'm googling, there is a slot to upgrade the RAM. They aren't selling a 16GB variant, so you'd have to DIY or find a techie. What it doesn't say is if it's 4 soldered, 4 in the slot, or just 8 soldered (which would be better). It's standard laptop memory, so not pricey. Worst case it's 2x4GB so you either upgrade to 12 or 20.

For the price, I think it's quite good. It's not a heavyweight, but you're not getting that in this price range - the same laptop with an 8 core CPU and 16GB rolls in at £650.
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
OLED stands for Organic LED and is the technology found on posh TVs.

CPU is the part of the computer that does most of the work It's one of the parts that governs how fast it is.

16Gb would be next. Typically they are much more expensive, although you may find cheaper machines with 16gb. They are often compromised in other ways.

What's your budget and what do you want to use it for?
Click to expand...
budget ideally under 600 but might go to 800 if that was going to be a better experienced

i don't game. Will watch some tv/films

mainly work needs - I move it around a lot so weight and hardiness are important
 
Chz said:
OLED is a more vivid screen, with zero backlight bleed. Usually there's a tradeoff of a lower maximum brightness, but vs other laptops in this price range this screen actually has better peak brightness.

CPU is 2 cores/4 threads, but a proper Core i3. I'd call it a minimum, but perfectly acceptable for most usage. Despite the core count, faster than a 4 core Celeron.

Seems to be 1.8kg, so light-ish for a 15" but not ultralight.

From what I'm googling, there is a slot to upgrade the RAM. They aren't selling a 16GB variant, so you'd have to DIY or find a techie. What it doesn't say is if it's 4 soldered, 4 in the slot, or just 8 soldered (which would be better). It's standard laptop memory, so not pricey. Worst case it's 2x4GB so you either upgrade to 12 or 20.

For the price, I think it's quite good. It's not a heavyweight, but you're not getting that in this price range - the same laptop with an 8 core CPU and 16GB rolls in at £650.
Click to expand...
thank you that's helpful
 
Those are the things you really pay extra for, though. Business laptops are lighter and more durable than most consumer machines, but they start at the top end of your budget. Latitudes and Thinkpads are great, but you'd probably want to look at used ones.

No shame in that - a good many people would prefer a used business laptop to a brand new consumer level one.
 
Chz said:
Those are the things you really pay extra for, though. Business laptops are lighter and more durable than most consumer machines, but they start at the top end of your budget. Latitudes and Thinkpads are great, but you'd probably want to look at used ones.
Click to expand...

Was not aware of this.

I'm also in the market for a new PC (prob laptop) at the moment.
Not sure I know anyone with Costco membership, though... :(
 
Chz said:
Those are the things you really pay extra for, though. Business laptops are lighter and more durable than most consumer machines, but they start at the top end of your budget. Latitudes and Thinkpads are great, but you'd probably want to look at used ones.

No shame in that - a good many people would prefer a used business laptop to a brand new consumer level one.
Click to expand...

My worry would be batteries don't hold charge quite so well, so you loose some of that portability. I've recommended recon before to people but I think that budget can go new, even if not a latitude. Much as I like mine, I'm not sure I'd buy one with my own money.

Miss-Shelf Do you know what screen size you'd like? 14" is a good all rounder for portability, obviously smaller makes more so.
 
If you need the extra CPU oomph, this is pretty decent, too. Possibly the cheapest i7 I've seen, and I know there's a free RAM slot.

ASUS X415EA-EB384T Laptop, Intel Core i7 Processor, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 14" Full HD, Silver

Buy ASUS X415EA-EB384T Laptop, Intel Core i7 Processor, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 14" Full HD, Silver from our View All Laptops & MacBooks range at John Lewis & Partners. Free Delivery on orders over £50.
www.johnlewis.com

I think there's a lot of inventory clearing going on as the 12th gen stuff rolls out.
 
Chz said:
If you need the extra CPU oomph, this is pretty decent, too. Possibly the cheapest i7 I've seen, and I know there's a free RAM slot.

ASUS X415EA-EB384T Laptop, Intel Core i7 Processor, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 14" Full HD, Silver

Buy ASUS X415EA-EB384T Laptop, Intel Core i7 Processor, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 14" Full HD, Silver from our View All Laptops & MacBooks range at John Lewis & Partners. Free Delivery on orders over £50.
www.johnlewis.com

I think there's a lot of inventory clearing going on as the 12th gen stuff rolls out.
Click to expand...

That's a bargain for a machine its size, and an extra 8gb if RAM is cheap.
 
Hello,

This laptop has been reduced by £200 to £499. So just over the maximum for this thread really, however, I'd like thoughts on it from the hive mind.

My main question is about the AMD Ryzen 5 5500U Processor. How good, fast, etc is that? What's the Intel equivalent, for example?

I'm googling for reviews as one does but I trust you lot more.

It is for lil'Angel (not so lil' now as she's started her A levels this week) and it will be for her college work (see below). So it will be rucksacked via bus to college and back 4 or 5 days a week. Light and long battery life are important for her IMHO. She won't be using much beyond web, Office and probably Blendr on it. It needs to last 2-3 years.

e2a:
LENOVO Yoga 6 13.3" 2 in 1 Laptop - AMD Ryzen 5, 256 GB SSD, Abyss Blue
https://www.currys.co.uk/products/l...d-ryzen-5-256-gb-ssd-abyss-blue-10225082.html

Thanks in advance

Throbbing Angel said:
The college website states (below) - no mention of the OS
IT & Laptop Advice
The College has a large number of desktop and laptop computers for you to use on campus. For some courses, it may be beneficial to also have your own laptop. Below is some advice on what to look for when purchasing a laptop.

What laptop to choose from?

Our recommendation is to buy a laptop with the following specifications:

Intel i3/i5/i7 or AMD Ryzen 3/5/7 CPU
4/8GB of RAM 120GB SSD 13”/15” screen
We do not make official recommendations on the specific make of laptops. When choosing your laptop processing power is less important than weight (light) and battery life (long). The more RAM you have the better. An SSD hard drive can speed up some processes but is not essential. A touch screen can be useful for annotating notes but is also not essential.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
The newer Ryzens are good chips. The 5500 is comparable to an intel i5, but with much better graphics (which will matter for Blender)

What laptop model is it? (AMD comeback in laptops is relatively new and some manufacturers have botched it, which MAY explain the discount)
 
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